1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method in which a developed image is formed with liquid developers which contain toner particles and liquid carrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an image forming apparatus which gets a visible image by using liquid developer, an apparatus transferring secondarily a developed image formed on a photosensitive medium to a paper by means of intermediate transfer medium has already been developed. In the image forming apparatus using the intermediate transfer medium, a cleaning mechanism is provided to improve the quality of image as disclosed by the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-13838. The cleaning mechanism employs a cleaner to adhere stuck material on the intermediate transfer medium with the aid of adherence thereof.
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, an intermediate transfer roller 3 to transfer secondarily a full-color-developed image, which is primarily transferred from photosensitive drum 2 of an image forming portion 1 of the image forming apparatus, contacts an intermediate transfer cleaning roller 4 having a surface adhering layer of a resin which is the same kind as that of toner particles of the developing agent, in order to remove stuck material on the surface of an intermediate transfer roller 3 by contacting them closely on an intermediate transfer cleaning roller 4 side, after the secondary transferring step has finished.
However the above-mentioned intermediate transfer cleaning roller 4 cannot maintain adherence of the surface adhering layer thereof for a long period, therefore there is a problem that maintainability or economical efficiency is deteriorated because long durability is prevented due to deterioration of adherence of the surface adhering layer. This deterioration of the adherence of the intermediate transfer cleaning roller 4 is caused by the fact that some dust consisting mainly of paper powder stuck on a paper P as well as residual toner is adhered to the surface of the intermediate transfer roller 3 after the secondary transferring step has finished, and that the dust adheres to the intermediate transfer cleaning roller 4 side.
Therefore, it is desirable that an image forming apparatus and an image forming method with excellent maintainability and economical efficiency, which prevent the adherence of the intermediate transfer cleaning device from deteriorating so as to be able to clean the intermediate transfer medium favorably for a long time, should be realized.